An experiential workshop where we explore how attachment styles influence adult relationship patterns.
See how simple and compassionate exercises deepen intimacy, strengthen attachment bonds and promote healing in any relationship.
In a brief overview of attachment theory, learn how early childhood attachment styles develop, influencing both social and intimate adult relationship patterns.
Each of the four attachment styles has its own defining traits and characteristics. We’ll identify each style’s communication needs—and discuss why people don’t always fit neatly into a single category.
Help yourself or your clients heal broken connections and overcome habitual patterns using practical healing exercises that restore secure attachment bonds and lead to better communication.
Fostering secure attachment for others means strengthening it for yourself. Learn how to acknowledge your own patterns and reactions, and develop reassuring therapeutic skills that build trust and instill confidence.
Get instant access to this FREE BONUS GIFT when you register…
Just download the ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLES REFERENCE GUIDE immediately after you register.
Use this concise and practical reference guide to better understand how each of the four attachment styles presents for intimate relationships in a clinical setting.
If you’ve studied the history of psychology at all, you know that psychologist John Bowlby first developed attachment theory while studying why babies became so separated from a parent.
Biologically, all babies need a parent or primary caregiver to take care of their basic needs to survive—and Bowlby observed that children use what he called attachment behaviors, such as crying, searching and holding on to their parent, to prevent separation or communicate their
basic survival needs.
In an ideal situation, children come to rely on a consistent, loving presence that aims to understand them and meet their needs. And if your primary caregiver met your needs when you were young, you probably developed a secure attachment style.
But what happens in a less-than-ideal situation? Most likely, your primary caregiver failed to meet your needs reliably—or perhaps they responded inconsistently—so you may have adapted an insecure attachment style, which includes three sub-types: avoidant, ambivalent and disorganized.
Attachment theory holds that these early childhood patterns can carry over into adulthood and influence your emotions, behavior patterns and interactions… and most importantly, how you form relationships and relate or communicate with others.
Our self-esteem, ability to control our emotions, behaviors, communication style, work, beliefs, quality of our relationships—even our physical health—are all affected by our attachment style.
When we feel anxious or fearful or stressed, the patterns we established in early childhood continue to serve as our working model for our adult relationships. That means, we’re often not as good as articulating our needs or understanding others as we may think we are.
And while you may not have much of a say over which attachment style you’ve developed, when you better understand the source of your attachment style, you can begin to recognize (or even predict) what your response is likely to be in certain circumstances.
When we realize that many of our current relationship patterns may be related more to our early upbringing rather than our current partner’s shortcomings, we can view ourselves and others with more compassion and empathy, which is an important step in the healing process.
The good news is—learning more about why you think and feel the way you do holds the key to overcoming unhealthy insecure attachment habits and patterns.
When we better understand our own adaptations, we can begin to develop new ways to heal and connect with others to create deeper and more meaningful relationships.
